Tag: makeup empties

Beauty, empties, Hair, Makeup, Review, Skincare

Product Empties November 2022

by LeaLeave a Comment on Product Empties November 2022

Hey guys! I’m back with another product empties. As I mentioned in my last empties, I’ve been going through products faster than I can write about them! I have fifteen empties to share today and I have about another twenty in my empties bag. Maybe I should do an empties Youtube video? Let me know what you think. Let’s get into today’s post!

Starting with body lotion, I finished the St Ives 24 Hour Moisture Body Lotion in the scent Almond & Flaxseed. I’ve mentioned my love of almond-scented products before and someone recommended this to me (I think on Insta). I liked this lotion! The pump made it easy to apply and it absorbed quickly into the skin. My only complaint is that it didn’t smell like almonds! If you prefer lightly scented products then you’ll love this but if you’re like me and want almonds this won’t hit the spot. I have other lotions that I like more but if you’re looking for a good drugstore lotion, this is a great option.

If you watched my USA shopping haul, then you’ll know that I’ve fallen in love with the Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patch. It’s just as good as my beloved Peace Out Acne Patches but more affordable! If you’re in the US you can get them at Target. For my fellow Canadians, they are available at Shoppers but currently only online. I put it on a whitehead before I got to bed and by morning the pimple is all gone! I will be purchasing these again in the future.

Another favourite is the OLEHENRIKSEN Cold Plunge Pore Remedy Moisturizer. I finished both a full-sized and a mini travel size of this moisturizer. I recommend this to all my fellow oily & acne-prone friends out there. It’s super lightweight and doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. If you have sensitive skin I would be careful though because it has BHA and LHA in the moisturizer to help with pores. While I decided to purchase something else to review, I would purchase this moisturizer again in the future.

I had a deluxe sample of the First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Face Cleanser and it was alright. It’s a fragrance-free, gentle cleanser and I would say that it does exactly as it says. But for my skin I just like a little something more. If you have sensitive skin you would love this!

The next product is the Cerave Moisturizing Cream. I much prefer Cerave’s Moisturizing Lotion over the cream. The lotion comes in a pump so it’s easier to apply. I find the cream to be a little too thick for my skin. It’s nice in the winter when it’s super cold and my skin is super dry. But for the majority of the year, it’s just not the right moisturizer for my skin! If you have drier skin you’ll love this though!

I got the Clean Skin Club Pineapple Glow Mist in my Boxycharm box and I ended up liking it! It’s like having hyaluronic acid in mist form! It’s super easy to apply to the skin, it provided some extra hydration and smelt great. I would consider repurchasing in the future but I don’t want to deal with shipping and customs so I’ll be passing on that because I’m sure there are similar products available in Canada.

Now I wish the St Ives lotion smelled just as good at the L’Occitane Almond line. I finished the Almond Smoothing and Beautifying Milk Concentrate and it was amazing. It smelled just like almonds and applied so well to the skin. It left me feeling so soft after. I used this only on special occasions because this is a pricey body lotion. But if you’re looking to treat yourself (or badly want an almond-scented product) then I highly recommend checking it out! I see myself purchasing from this line again in the future.

It takes a lot for me to not like a mascara, but the PUR Cosmetics Fully Charged Mascara just wasn’t it for me. I like length, definition and a little volume with my mascara. This PUR one gave me barely any length and was so clumpy. As the mascara aged it also became flaky, which is not something I normally deal with mascaras. It was almost impossible to remove! There are so many better mascaras out there, don’t get this one.

Another item I received in my Boxycharm was the Skin & Co Truffle Therapy Radiant Dew Mist. The website says this can be used to set makeup but I preferred using this as a skincare mist. I would spray this all over my face and then apply my hyaluronic acid. This mist is supposed to be good for breakouts and oil but I didn’t notice a difference. Based on the photos from the website it looks like they changed their packaging, which is good because I found the nozzle wasn’t the greatest. I won’t be repurchasing this mist because it was fine but not great enough to deal with shipping it to Canada.

A product I’ve repurchased is the Dove Exfoliating Body Polish. I decided to pick it up again since it’s a great body scrub available at the drugstore. I’ve come to realize I’m not a huge sugar scrub fan because I find they dissolve before I can scrub my body. This one is great because it’s not sugar so I can get a good scrub in. And I love the Macadamia & Rice Milk scent it’s nutty and sweet. I would repurchase again in the future.

Another scrub, this time a face one, is the Origins GinZing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser. I struggle with texture so I love having a good physical exfoliator. This one was pretty good. It has tiny beads to buff away the dead skin. It has a very refreshing and citrusy scent which I enjoy. Overall I like this cleanser and would recommend it!

I finished a deluxe sample of the IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Makeup Primer+. Honestly, I wasn’t that impressed by the primer. It wasn’t bad. But if a primer claims to be a gripping primer, I expect it to grip my foundation and not budge throughout the day. I found it didn’t make much of a difference in the longevity of my makeup. If you want a gripping primer, the ELF one is much better and cheaper.

Another product I was completely unimpressed with was the Bumble and Bumble Curl Defining Cream. I didn’t finish this product, I’m throwing it away. It’s way too heavy for my hair. I could feel the cream in my hair and it weighted my hair down so the curls couldn’t form. I tried using this cream a few times using varying amounts and each time it was too heavy for my hair. It’s a real shame because I love Bumble and Bumble’s Curl Reactivator. But this curl cream wasn’t for me.

The Mudmasky Vitamin-infused Eye Serum was like the neverending eye cream. Most eye creams are 15 ml (or 0.5 oz) and the Mudmasky eye cream is double at 30 ml (or 1 oz). It took me forever to finish the eye cream. Overall I found it to be an alright eye cream. It did a good job of hydrating my under eyes and that’s all I ask for in an eye cream. It absorbs quickly into the skin and it worked well under concealer. But I don’t love it enough to ship it to Canada.

And the final empty is the Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara. I liked this one! It was great at adding length to my lashes. I liked the skinny wand because I find it easier to not get mascara on my eyelids with the skinny wands. I wish it was a little bit more volumizing but overall it was great for everyday wear. I would repurchase this mascara.

And those are my product empties! If you have tried any of these products let me know what you thought about them in the comments!

xoxo

Lea

Beauty, empties, Hair, Makeup, Skincare

Product Empties May 2022

by LeaLeave a Comment on Product Empties May 2022

Hey guys! It’s time for another product empties. I don’t know if these types of posts are very popular anymore. I love doing them because it allows me to follow up on products I’ve mentioned before and give my in-depth thoughts. I’ve been finishing a bunch of products lately. I’m trying to limit to 10 products per post but I have another 15 so maybe sometime I should do a Youtube video? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Let’s get into it!

Product emtpies

The first product was the CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion. I’ve mentioned this before but I use a face lotion on my chest and back because those areas are acne-prone. Using my heavily scented body lotions breaks me out in those areas so I use lotions like this CeraVe one. I liked this moisturizer! First, it’s a pump which I prefer for body lotions. The formula is thin but still moisturizing. It sinks very quickly into the skin and isn’t sticky. And best of all it’s from the drugstore! I tried to repurchase this and it was sold out everywhere! I picked up a different lotion but would get this again in the future. This lotion has my stamp of approval.

A haircare empty was the Moroccan Oil All in One Leave-In Conditioner. Just want to note that this isn’t curly-girl approved but I was all out of leave-in conditioner and was gifted this so I was like might as well use it. And I did enjoy it! I did a nice job of adding a little moisture to my hair. I still think my favourite is the leave-in by Living Proof. I wouldn’t repurchase it because it’s not curly-girl approved but I think it’s worth trying out if that is not something you look for in your products!

A mask empty!! It takes me forever to go through masks and the Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner Pore Purifying Mask was no exception. I got this mask in a Boxycharm back in 2018… that’s a long time. This mask wasn’t bad it just wasn’t my favourite. The mask is white with little beads that turn blue as you rub it into the skin. This is a pore-purifying mask and I just have masks that do a better job. I won’t be repurchasing and wouldn’t recommend it.

Another Boxycharm product was the Elemis Superfood AHA Glow Cleansing Butter. I got this product back in September 2021, not four years ago haha. My initial review was that this would be great for people with dry skin and that thought still stands. It has a very creamy texture that is very hydrating. My only issue is that it wasn’t the most effective cleansing product I’ve ever used. It’s fine for light, everyday makeup but if I was wearing liquid eyeliner or lash glue it wasn’t very good at removing it. I finished the product but I won’t be repurchasing it.

One of the many cleansers I recently finished was the Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser. This is a gentle cleanser with AHAs and hyaluronic acid to help with skin texture, oiliness and acne. When they say this is a gentle cleanser they weren’t joking. If you have sensitive skin you might enjoy this. But I personally found it wasn’t strong enough for my skin. I will not be repurchasing this.

The next product was the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray. I was a little disappointed with this product. Everyone raved online that this setting spray would help make my makeup last long and I didn’t notice a difference. I was also not a big fan of the scent either, it was very floral which I personally don’t like. Now this might be because I got the mini size, but I found the nozzle often got clogged and would spray big droplets all over my face. If you want a long wear setting spray I would recommend the Milani Make It Last which is half the price of this Charlotte Tilbury one.

A cleanser that I didn’t even finish was the Juice Beauty Green Apple Brightening Gel Cleanser. Unfortunately, this cleanser broke me out so I stopped using it. I know it has Vitamin E in it which does clog my pores but I’m unsure if that was what was causing me to break out. Either way, I would suggest being cautious if you wish to try out this cleanser.

Another setting spray that I finished was the Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional: Super Setter Pore-Minimizing Setting Spray. If you read my Sephora haul post then you would know that I already repurchased this setting spray. Unlike the Charlotte Tilbury spray, I do notice a difference in my skin when I use this spray. It just helps smooth my skin and blur my pores. It’s great after I use powder to just make everything look more skin-like. I highly recommend checking out this setting spray.

The final cleanser I finished was the Glamglow SUPERCLEANSE Clearing Cream-to-Foam Cleanser. This was my shower cleanser. I generally keep on cleanser in the shower so I don’t have to remember to bring one from my skincare to the shower each time. I generally relegate cleanser I’m not as fond of or ones that aren’t as strong to the shower. I chose this one to be a shower cleanser because it’s a messy cleanser and it’s easier to contain the mess in the shower. Since it’s a charcoal cleanser it would leave grey water stains in my sink. Also this has a licorice scent which I do not like so I would also hold my breath while using this cleanser. Probably would have returned it if I had purchased it but I got it in my Boxycharm so I was persistent and finished it instead. I will not be repurchasing though.

The final product today is the Frank Body Caffeinated Scalp Scrub. This was another Boxycharm product. This was my first time using a scalp scrub and it was alright. It felt nice in my scalp to use it but I didn’t really see a difference in my scalp or hair after using the scrub. I have a rubber scrubber that I use with my shampoo and I find that stimulates my scalp enough to help with product build up and dandruff. Overall maybe if you use a lot of product in your roots you would like this more but it just wasn’t for me.

And those are my product empties! Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these products and what your thoughts were!

xoxo

Lea

Beauty, Drugstore, empties, Hair, Makeup, Review, Skincare

Product Empties February 2022

by LeaLeave a Comment on Product Empties February 2022

Hey guys! It’s time for another product empties post. I love writing product empties because I’ve finished a product so I usually have formed my opinion on a product. I feel like I can give you guys the best review after using up a product. I had a bunch of empties but decided to break up my collection into two posts, so expect to see another product empties post in the future. Let’s get into it.

A collection of makeup, skincare and hair care products that I recently finished.

The first empty is a hair mask. I’ve mentioned before I’m on the hunt for the best hair mask that doesn’t count sulphates or silicones, which is proving to be difficult. The latest one I’ve tried is Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque. This is the second Shea Moisture mask I’ve tried and I’m a little underwhelmed once again. I want to love this brand’s masks because they’re available at the drugstore. I found the other mask I tried from this brand to be too heavy. With this Deep Treatment Masque, I don’t find much of a difference. Maybe I need to let it sit longer than five to ten minutes? I just find that hair masks with silicone always make my hair feel soft and smooth and I can’t seem to find a similar effect with silicone-free masks. Maybe if you have dry hair you’d like this, but for me, it’s a pass.

Next, I finally finished the Kylie Skin Foaming Face Wash. You know I’ve had this for a while when the packaging has changed since I got this haha. I got this in my June 2020 Boxycharm. This cleanser is very gentle so I only use it as a second cleanser after I use a cleansing balm. It took me forever to go through this cleanser because it’s a foaming face wash. I only need about one pump to wash my face so it just took a long time to go through it. Overall it’s not a bad cleanser, if anything it would be great if you had sensitive skin. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to order it and ship it to Canada for such a gentle cleanser.

A product that is slowly becoming a reoccurring empty is the Peace Out Salicylic Acid Acne Healing Dots. I finished this pack back in January and I’m almost finished my current pack. To be fair my skin has been freaking out lately so I’ve been using a lot of these dots. They are by far the best acne patches I’ve tried and the patches make a difference with how quickly my breakouts heal. The key is to use these when the whitehead has appeared to suck all the gunk out. I will say the only thing that breaks my heart is that they’re not the cheapest at $25 for a 20 pack so I only use them on my had breakouts. Sometimes I’ll also cut them in half if I had a small breakout. Overall if you suffer from acne you have to check these out!

Another product that I’ve received from my Boxycharm is the Farmacy Honey Grail Ultra-Hydrating Face Oil. I’m just gonna put it out there that this oil is no joke. As someone with oilier skin, I generally don’t reach for face oil. I used this oil as my moisturizer found that it gave me more than enough moisture. It claims to be fast-absorbing and I would have to disagree. I found that it took a while for the oil to sink into my skin. Maybe if you had super dry skin you would love this. As an oily skin girl, this just wasn’t meant for me so I will not be repurchasing this oil.

An oil that I do love is the Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil. This is one of my favourite vitamin C serums I’ve tried. I find this vitamin C is potent enough to make a difference in my acne scars. The squalane and rose oil also had a visible brightness and glow to my skin that I haven’t found in other vitamin C serums. My only complaint is that it’s quite expensive, which is why I recently go the Glow Recipe vitamin C serum, you can check out my review of it here!

The next two empties are mascaras! I’m trying to be better about throwing out expired makeup and I’ve had both of these for over a year so it’s time for them to go in the garage. The first mascara is the Tarte Maneater Voluptuous Mascara. I got this one in a Boxycharm. I generally like Tarte mascara and this one is no exception. The shape of the wand means that I don’t get mascara all over my lids. I do prefer the Tarte Tarteist Lash Paint Mascara over this one because I prefer length over volume. My second mascara empty is the Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Lengthening Mascara. I thought I was going to love this mascara and I was disappointed. It’s supposed to be a lengthening mascara and I find it didn’t give me that much length. I also found that so much product got on the wand and it became very goopy very quickly so it would get all over my eyelids. The only pro was that it was easy to remove since it’s a tubing mascara. But I will not be repurchasing this mascara.

A drugstore empty! I decided to pick up the ELF Holy Hydration Face Cream because I wanted to test out some affordable skincare and this was a winner baby! This is a little on the thicker side for my oily side so this is more of a winter/nighttime moisturizer for me. But if you have dry skin you would love this. At $16 this is such an affordable moisturizer and shows you don’t always have to pay a ton of money for good skincare. I have purchased other moisturizers but this is one that I would instantly recommend to people in the future.

If you read my Body Lotion Round-Up post, you might recognize that I mentioned the Bath & Body Works Body Lotion. I had finally finished this Pumpkin Pecan Waffles scent back in January. I had bought this back in August so it took me five months to finish this! I have learned my lesson and won’t be buying seasonal scents anymore because I was sick of smelling like fall in early January haha. But the actual body lotion is great. It’s thick but absorbs quickly into the skin. The scents are strong and do linger so just keep that in mind if you are sensitive to scents. I have already repurchased another one, I like the B&BW lotions!

The final empty for today is the Youth to the People Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser. This is an amazing cleanser if you have acne-prone skin. I didn’t realize how effective it was until I stopped using it. It’s gentle enough that my skin doesn’t feel stripped when using it. But it did a great job at reducing the number of breakouts I had. It comes in a glass bottle with a pump, which is great for the vanity but not good for travelling haha. I have purchased a different cleanser since but I am considering getting it again in the future.

And those are my product empties! Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and what your thoughts were!

xoxo

Lea

Beauty, empties, Hair, Makeup, Review, Skincare

Product Empties November 2021 (What Beauty Products Would I Repurchase?)

by Lea3 Comments on Product Empties November 2021 (What Beauty Products Would I Repurchase?)

Hey guys! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done an empties post. I barely had any empties for a while and then within the last couple weeks I’ve finished like five products. I have 12 products for today’s post so let’s get into it!

Up first is the Hempz Natural Herbal Body Moisturizer in the Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon scent. I was totally influenced by Sierra Schultzzie on this one. She did an “influencers made me buy it” video and fell in love with this lotion which in turn made me buy it. This is a great body lotion! It smells absolutely amazing – it reminds me of this certain gum but I can’t remember the name. I love the consistency because it’s not too thick but still hydrating. It sinks into the skin quickly and the scent lingers a bit but isn’t overpowering. I decided to repurchase the lotion but this time in the Fresh Coconut & Watermelon scent. Would recommend checking out this lotion.

The next product is the Versed Day Dissolve Cleansing Balm. Cleansing balms are one of my favourite products to test out and this is one of the best I’ve tried so far. It’s an oil-based cleanser so I find that it’s incredible at removing makeup. Even the most stubborn mascara, liners, lipsticks and glitters come off easily with this balm. Despite the fact that it’s oil-based it doesn’t leave my skin feeling oily or greasy. Sometimes if I’m feeling partially lazy I won’t double cleanse because my face feels clean enough after using this cleansing balm. AND best of all it’s available at the drugstore. I recommend checking out this cleansing balm if you wear makeup.

My brother has gotten into the habit of using my eye cream. He loved the Farmacy Cheer Up Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream. We both have very sensitive under eyes and this didn’t both us. I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference but he did. He said it was hydrating and he just found it made a visible difference. He even asked if I was going to repurchase it (to which I replied he can purchase it himself since I have another eye cream open). So this eye cream has my brother’s seal of approval.

The first of two haircare products is the Living Proof Restore Repair Leave-In. I highly recommend this leave-in conditioner. First, it’s curly girl approved so my fellow curly hair friends can use this. Second, it does such a great job of leaving my hair smooth and silky. You can use a leave-in product as a heat protectant since its coats your hair. I will use this if I’m going to diffuse my curls and it helps prevent any frizziness. I currently have some other hair products open but once I finish them up I will buy this again.

The second haircare product is the Playa Healing Hair Masque. Honesltly I was a little disappointed by this mask. I had heard great things about the brand and assumed I would like the mask. It wasn’t a bad mask but it didn’t do anything more from my hair than using conditioner. If I’m going to pay almost $50 for a hair mask I want a noticeable difference and I didn’t get that. Still on the hunt for the best hair mask.

If you suffer from acne, then you HAVE to try the Benzagel Acne Gel. If you’ve followed me for awhile you might remember that I was using prescription acne cream for awhile. Unforuantely I’ve run out of the cream and cannot afford to repurchase it. So I switched over to this Benzagel Acne Gel. This contains Benzagel Peroxide, which is the main ingredient in Proactive. This is the best over the counter cream I’ve used so far. I apply it to wear I break out once a day and I noticed a huge difference in as little as two weeks. I’ll be honest and I still get breakouts but this has helped me. I recommend it to everyone suffering from acne.

Another cleanser I finished is the Laneige Cream Skin Milk Oil Cleanser. If you have dry skin you’ll love this cleanser for removing makeup. Unlike cleansing balms which sometimes can be stripped, this cleanser is quite hydrating. I will say it’s not as effective compared to other makeup removing cleansers so I used this more on my lighter makeup days. I personally won’t be repurchasing it but would recommend to anyone with normal to dry skin.

A moisturizer I finished is the Murad City Skin Overnight Detox Moisturizer. While I like this moisturizer I still find it funny that it has vitamin C. I’ve already heard that it’s best to apply vitamin C in the morning because it helps prevent UV damage, so it’s weird to be that they put vitamin C in a night cream. But besides that this cream isn’t bad. A little on the thicker side, which makes sense since it’s a nice cream. I like the packaging. It’s a push pump so I don’t have to dig my fingers into a jar. Overall it was a good moisturizer but I’m not going to go out of my way to repurhcase it on the Murad website.

A product that I was surprised that I enjoyed so much is the MineTan Body.Skin Hydra Glow Sleep Serum, which is a hyaluronic acid serum. I haven’t had the best of luck with finding a hyalurnoic acid serum that I like but this one worked great! I noticed a difference in how moisturizer my face felt after using this serum. I also noticed that my skin looked brighter as well after using it for a couple of weeks. Overall I enjoyed this serum. Unfortunately it’s only available through their site so I don’t think I’ll repurchase it because I don’t want to deal with the hassle that is shipping to Canada. But if you live in the US check this out!

A finished a makeup product! Doesn’t happen very often but I finished my tube of my Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. You already know that I’ve repurchased another one. I just love the way it brightens my undereyes and it’s so easy to blend. It does start to crease on me around the six hour makeup but it’s creamy enough that I can usually just tap out the creasing and lines with my finger and it looks fine. I think the fact that I finished a whole tube of this is just a testament to how much I love it.

Back to skincare again, I finished a bottle of the Clean Skin Club Vitamin C Brightening Booster. It was alright. At this point I compare all vitamin C serums to the Biossance one and this one just wasn’t as good. Now if you don’t like an oily feeling serum then you’ll probably like this one because it dries down almost matte. But I didn’t notice having any immediate brightening effect nor was it any faster at helping with my hyperpigmentation compared to the Biossance serum. It’s not bad but not good enough for me to want to repurchase.

And the final product is the Versed Look Alive Hydrating Plumping Mask. I thought for some reason based on the packaging that I would go through this in a few uses. But it took me like two years to get through the mask (expiry dates? what’s that lol). If you just want a mask to add some extra hydration to your skin, this is the mask for you. It’s like an extra juicy moisturizer. I leave it on for ten minutes, wash it off and my skin feels plump and juicy. It has a very nice, light floral scent. And best of all like other Versed products it’s affordable! I haven’t yet but I am considering picking another one up.

And that is it for my product empties guys! Let me know if you’ve used any of these products and what your thoughts are on them. And if you have any hair mask suggestions leave them in the comments because I’m still on the hunt!

xoxo

Lea